UGO writes: "Resident Evil 5 draws ever-nearer. And yet, with every step we take towards the game, it only feels like more of its details are cloaked in mystery. In a effort to bring some of the game to life, we sat down with producer, Jun Takeuchi, to pick eat his brain of all things RE5 related. Did we slowly amble towards him for the eventual score? Or did he hit us with a headshot of silence? The end result is a bit of a mix.
Q: This is the first time, GTA aside, that a game has brought a dialog about race into the gaming industry because of the context of the game. How do you find yourselves dealing with the issue?
A: You know, in terms of how we approach it, we chose Africa as a setting for very specific reasons. We're in the business of making entertainment and not making political messages, so we're just trying to make an interesting new product. Rather than do anything or approach the issue itself, we just kind of feel that people got the wrong impression from the first trailer. Maybe it was just a little bit of a mix-up, but we hope that with what you see today and in the future, that you will get the right impression--and a better understanding--of the game.
You know, we went to Africa to do research for the game and what we saw there we're putting down in the game itself… I don't think [the race issue] is just because it's a videogame. This kind of problem appears in any form of media: television, books, whatever. It's very difficult to use Africa as a setting for an entertaining product. But, that's what we're going with."
